Working in the drug war offers so many opportunities for corruption, its not surprising that the Department of Homeland Security's Counter Narcotics Department is trying to make the most of no-bid contract policies. Also last week, Ethan Nadelmann gets the front cover of Foreign Policy; and a crackdown on internet pharmacies seems to be in the planning stage.
]]>From Canada comes an in depth review of the history of their marijuana laws. And unlike the Seattle Hempfest, the Ontario cops did their best to crush a hempfest, which hurt it though it was still successful.
Another California newspaper calls for changes in Prop. 215, but that can not happen without another initiative. Limits of amounts are a common issue in newspaper editorials. So what are the limits? Prop. 215 has none. But Senate Bill 420 provided a floor, a lower amount, which holders of the medical marijuana ID cards may expect California law enforcement to honor - sometimes, and more often in some parts of the state than in others - as it is the law. The issue is complex. However, most California experts suggest the starting place to learn more about the limits is http://www.safeaccessnow.net/
]]>Once again, we find out: prisons don't stop drug use. The prison walls meant to control the disobedient turn out to be holding tanks for drugs, as well as drug users. In New Zealand, officials are pondering the unthinkable: allowing a needle exchange within prisons. Far from keeping drugs away from people, prisons encourage transmission of diseases like hepatitis and HIV, with shared needles. "For some reason prisoners are able to get their hands on drugs," said executive director Ross Bell of the New Zealand Drug Foundation.
In Vancouver, Canada, the only supervised injection center in North America, Insite, is back on the block as Conservatives seek to stop the program as a sop to their political base. Study after study has shown Insite to be effective and helpful: preventing fatal overdoses as well as steering addicts to services like rehab. But in the evidence-free world of political spin, evidence of the harms reduced by Insite can never be enough. "Unfortunately, it appears that no amount of evidence will convince the Conservatives, skeptical since the project was launched in 2003, of Insite's value."
We leave you this week with an opinion piece that was published across Canada last week, "Prohibition Of Drugs Fails." As Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Afghanistan adventure increasingly produces little more than photo-ops of flag-draped coffins and military funerals, the Harper regime needs some visible successes, and what's better than a drug war to drum up support? "Like an old dog that can't learn new tricks, the Harper government seems bent on preserving the tired, utterly disproven message that drug prohibition works, writes Jeremy Loome. Government "seems bent on ignoring evidence and public opinion in favour of imposing rigid, ineffective ideology that damages society." Drug laws "don't stop people from getting or using drugs. Period."
]]>